Chinese Martial Arts: My Super Beast Clone

No wonder.

Lin Hai turned to look at the jade-horned deer still struggling in the tree, then at the tiger carcass beside him, now reduced to a skeleton. "You've been lingering around here, risking being prey, because you sensed the scent of this precious plant early on."

Lin Hai muttered something to himself, then jumped into the pool and swam toward the lotus seedpod in the center.

As he drew closer, the unique, refreshing plant fragrance became even stronger. Lin Hai reached out his right hand, grasped the dark green lotus stem, and with a slight effort, broke the entire lotus pod off. The moment he held it in his hand, Lin Hai felt that the lotus pod was exceptionally heavy, like a solid lump of wood.

Lin Hai dived underwater to take a look. This lotus was different from ordinary lotuses. It floated on the water, and there were no lotus roots underwater. The roots were floating in the water.

After checking, he didn't linger in the water and immediately turned around and went back to shore.

As soon as he got ashore, he gripped the edge of the lotus seedpod with his thumbs and peeled off the thick, dark green outer skin.

The moment the shell broke open, a refreshing fragrance immediately entered Lin Hai's nostrils.

The fragrance was faint, but as it entered his lungs with his breath, Lin Hai felt his mind clear up, and the fatigue from being on edge in the wilderness for days dissipated considerably.

Lin Hai looked at the nine lotus seeds lying in his palm. Each lotus seed was about the size of a thumb, and its entire body was a translucent jade white color, with a faint sheen on the surface.

"Hiss... hiss..."

The dragon-snake lizard, dragging its not-yet-fully-grown broken tail, wriggled its way over.

It stared at the lotus pods and seeds in Lin Hai's hand, its tongue flicking in and out, emitting urgent hissing sounds. The little creature caught the scent of precious plants and immediately became hungry. It crawled to Lin Hai's feet and rubbed its head against his thigh repeatedly, like a lapdog begging for food.

Lin Hai looked at the dragon-snake lizard's appearance and chuckled, then cursed.

"You have a good nose."

Lin Hai reached out and tossed the lotus seedpod shell he had peeled off to it.

The dragon-snake lizard showed no disgust whatsoever. It immediately opened its mouth wide, tilted its head back, and swallowed the lotus seedpod that was thrown at it whole.

A few breaths later, Lin Hai suddenly felt something in his mind.

Lin Hai opened the panel with a thought.

He skipped over the values ​​related to physique and strength and focused his gaze on the bottom.

[Spiritual Essence: 6]

Lin Hai stared at the last column.

The spiritual energy value, which had been stuck at "1", suddenly and quietly changed to "6". It increased by a full 5 points!

The outer shell of a lotus seedpod alone provides 5 points of spiritual energy. So what about these nine lotus seeds?

Lin Hai's mind was in turmoil as he tucked the nine lotus seeds into his inner pocket.

Beside it, within the coarse hemp net suspended in mid-air, the jade-horned deer let out a rapid "yoyo" cry. It had witnessed the precious plant in full bloom, yet had not received a single benefit; its cries now betrayed its anxiety and fear.

Lin Hai stepped forward, looked up at the jade-horned deer struggling in the net, and drew the short knife from his waist.

"Now that things are settled, it's time for you to get going," Lin Hai said calmly.

With a flick of his wrist, the short knife pierced the neck of the jade-horned deer through the gap in the net, and warm blood splattered onto the muddy ground below. The jade-horned deer convulsed, its cries abruptly ceased, and its limbs hung limply at its sides.

Lin Hai swung his knife backhand and cut open the net.

The carcass of the jade-horned deer lay on the ground covered with withered leaves and mud.

The dragon-snake lizard, which was standing nearby, couldn't wait any longer. It smelled the strong scent of blood, and with the allure of the treasure beast itself, it opened its mouth, which was filled with fine, sharp teeth, and was about to bite into the softest part of the jade-horned deer's belly.

"Wait." Lin Hai pressed down on the dragon lizard's large head, temporarily calming it down.

The dragon lizard stopped what it was doing, looked up at the forest, and hissed anxiously.

Lin Hai crouched down and used his short knife to cut along the base of the two crystal-clear antlers on the head of the jade-horned deer.

The jade horns were hard, but there was a ring of cartilage where they connected to the skull. Lin Hai exerted force with his wrist, and the blade circled along the bone seam, neatly removing the two palm-length jade horns.

These two jade horns are the most precious materials of this treasure beast; bringing them back to Yangcheng will surely fetch a large sum of money.

After carefully putting away the jade horn, Lin Hai stepped back two paces and spoke to the dragon-snake lizard.

"Eat."

Once given permission, the dragon-snake lizard pounced and began to tear at the flesh with tremendous force. It ripped off skin and flesh together and swallowed them whole.

Lin Hai sat back down by the fire.

As the dragon-snake lizard continued to devour the flesh and blood of the jade-horned deer, streams of heat flowed through the soul connection, continuously nourishing Lin Hai's body.

As dawn broke, the morning mist in the forest began to dissipate.

As the sun climbed above the treetops, casting large and small patches of light across the forest, the jade-horned deer, about the size of a calf, had already been devoured by the dragon-snake lizard.

The dragon lizard's belly was bulging like a ball as it lay lazily on the sun-drenched ground, its eyes closed as it digested its feast.

Lin Hai opened the panel, and text quietly appeared.

Name: Lin Hai

Physical Strength: 10.2

【Spirit: 5.2】

Strength: 1106 jin (approximately 84,000 catties)

Martial Arts: Tiger-Taming Stance (Beginner), Tiger-Taming Fist (Advanced)

[Soul Avatar: Dragon-Snake Lizard (In the midst of its second evolution)]

[Spiritual Essence: 32]

Lin Hai looked at the changes on the panel, his breathing becoming somewhat heavy.

Physique increased by a full 2 ​​points. Strength also leaped over the 1,000-jin mark, increasing by 200 jin to reach 1106 jin.

What concerned him most was spiritual energy. After absorbing the lotus shell and the entire treasure beast, his spiritual energy increased by a full 31 points, bringing his total value to an astonishing 32 points.

"I've reached the threshold of Ming Jin, the strength of a thousand jin." Lin Hai clenched his fist.

Just as he was secretly assessing his strength, the numbers on the panel flickered.

Once the physique surpasses the 10-point threshold, a new line of text slowly emerges from below.

[Talent: Iron Bones]

The moment Lin Hai saw those two words, before he could even think about it, a strange tingling sensation started from his spine and quickly spread throughout his body.

He immediately stood up.

This sensation wasn't pain, but rather an extreme tingling and itching, as if countless ants were crawling back and forth in the cracks of his bones.

The first step in training strength is to transform brute force into whole-body strength, which then flows through all the major tendons and ligaments of the body.

The second challenge is bone transformation.

My master, Lu Zhengchuan, once said that martial arts practitioners can strengthen their bones while increasing their physical power.

The periosteum thickens and the bone becomes denser. At this stage, ordinary swords and knives will only leave a white mark when they strike the bone. This is the Great Perfection of Bone Transformation.

Lin Hai never expected that simply by relying on the physique of the dragon-snake-lizard to break through the 10-point watershed and form the Iron Bone talent, this talent would directly trigger the transformation of his bones.